Despite the tough economic times many tenant-in-common (TIC) professionals are facing today, TICA's 2008 Annual Conference attracted a number of sponsors and attendees from all over the United States. More than 900 sponsors, broker-dealers, registered representatives, attorneys, CPAs, financial advisors, real estate brokers and other affiliated professionals attended the event October 5-7 at The Wynn Las Vegas. This year's conference focused on "winning for the long term in the tenant-in-common industry." Nearly 60 companies exhibited at the conference, including 13 platinum sponsors, 33 gold sponsors and 12 tabletop exhibitors. With an addition of several sessions focusing on oil & gas and energy TIC investments, several new companies involved in these investments sponsored the conference. The cyber café, lunches and cocktail receptions were all held in the exhibit hall to give exhibitors and attendees more time to network with one another and make connections. Attendees also had time to network at sponsor roundtable sessions, where conference sponsors had the opportunity to meet with attendees and present to them on their company's capabilities. Attendees had the opportunity to attend 20 breakout sessions on various topics of interest in the TIC industry today like roles and responsibilities in a workout situation, marketing in tough times, state taxes and audits related to TIC investments, the current conditions in the capital markets, and much more! New at this year's conference were several sessions on oil & gas TIC investments and alternative investments. In addition to the breakout sessions, the conference offered two keynote speakers. Todd Buchholz opened the conference with his insight on how to thrive in a chaotic economy and gear up for prosperity. He described the current economy, how it got the way it is and where we are going from here. Buchholz was the former director of economic policy at the White House, a managing director of the $15 billion Tiger hedge fun and an award-winning economics teacher at Harvard. The conference closed with keynote speaker, Stephen Covey. He explained how trust is the critical component in making companies more profitable, people more promotable and relationships more energizing. Covey is the co-founder and CEO of CoveyLink Worldwide. The next TICA event will be held March 19-20, 2009 at The Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, Calif. Look for more information about sponsorship and registration coming soon. To find out more now, go to www.ticassoc.org. TICA is a trade association serving the fractional ownership industry. Established in 2003, TICA promotes the highest ethical standards to its members as well as provides education and information to the entire TIC community. TICA members include: registered representatives, broker-dealers, sponsors, qualified intermediaries, lenders, attorneys, CPAs and other affiliated TIC professionals.